On a bright sunny morning a few streets away from the Ruhr in leafy Mulheim Dietmar Leibecke is reflecting on another successful Static Roots Festival. 2023 had proved a turning point. Having built up a head of steam in the first four years, culminating in the highlight-packed 2019 iteration, the following two year hiatus couldn’t help but apply a brake to progress but the festival he’d initially launched back in 2016 was now definitely back on track and in better shape than ever.
It had been a splendid weekend blessed with beautiful weather. The sun had shone on the Ruhrgebiet and temperatures had soared into the thirties. With sublime prescience the Friday morning pre-festival Static Ruhr Tour was arranged on water. involving a leisurely cruise around the port of Duisburg where the Ruhr meets the Rhine. A little later the courtyard of the Zentrum Altenberg would provide a happy oasis for a growing crowd awaiting the early evening start.
The festival would meet all expectations; from One Eleven Heavy’s opening set of cosmic choogle all the way to the emotional return of John Blek & The Rats, reformed to celebrate ten years of Leave Your Love At The Door it was highlight after highlight. There was the odd hiccup; Malin Pettersen and her band arrived safely from Norway but without their luggage or their gear; it would take some speedy improvisation to let them take the stage, albeit with borrowed instruments and in their travelling clothes.
Overall Dietmar could take quiet satisfaction, and look forward with optimism to 2024. The word was getting around, and artists and agents were already making enquiries. A few names were mentioned, and the odd one did made the cut to the now-complete line-up which, as ever but more so, presents a cracking and diverse selection of performers. All dwell happily under the Americana umbrella, though they’re all, to some extent, push against the traditional template; and it’s a bit of a United Nations with a muster of Yanks and Brits, Canadians, a pair of Norwegians, an Austrian, and two Irishmen. A happy mix too, of the well-established and the up-and-coming.
The Sadies are legends of rock’n’roll and a force of nature. Their breakneck speed performances take no prisoners as they career through unique takes on pantheistic psychedelia, intense bluegrass breakdowns, and unashamed garage rock,. These fellows have the pedigree and the miles, and in their time, have accompanied such as Neil Young, Mary Margaret O’ Hara, Jon Langford, and Andre Williams. Following the sad, sudden passing of Dallas Good in 2022 the trio of brother Travis, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky retain everything of their power and commitment so expect fireworks.
Willy Vlautin is now recognised as one of the greats of alternative country. Having helmed one remarkable band in Richmond Fontaine he then repeated the trick with The Delines. The compelling voice of Amy Boone, together with bassist Freddie Trujillo, drummer Sean Oldham plus Corey Gray on keys, trumpet, and string arrangements conjure a thoroughly modern, yet still classical, country soul sound. Willy’s songs are vignettes of despair and survival, lost love and fresh hope; they may be set in specific locations – the Gulf Coast of Texas for 2022’s The Sea Drift – but the scenarios are universal.
Chris Cacavas is Paisley Underground aristocracy; part of the classic Green On Red line-up of the mid-80s, in and out of Dream Syndicate, on the Danny & Dusty bus; later help-mate of Howe Gelb, Jason Molina, and The Plastic Pals. A good few solo albums besides, and the intriguing Me And The Devil collaboration with Edward Abbiati. In recent years his rare live appearances have tended to be solo, so the opportunity to see him with a full band should not be spurned. Ironically, given his long-time residency in Karlsruhe, this is as close as you get to seeing native Germans on the Static Roots bill this year.
Deservedly a stunning success story of recent UK Americana, Hannah White has swept all before her with a best song award at 2023’s AUK for ‘Car Crash’, and now follows it up with the much-acclaimed Michelle Stodart-produced Sweet Revolution. She’s gleaning comparisons to Fleetwood Mac, and even Bobbie Gentry, for a set of songs featuring a whole plethora of notable contributors, among whom pedal-steeler Holly Carter, violinist Basia Bartz, and keyboardist Lars Hammersland. Plus long-time guitarist-partner Keiron Marshall with whom she runs the much-loved community- based Sound Lounge venue in South London.
Suzie Ungerleider shed the Oh Susanna stage-name in 2021 releasing the Jim Bryson-produced My Name Is Suzie Ungerleider. A naturalised Canadian who originally demanded notice with the Johnstown and Sleepy Little Sailor collections around the turn of the century. 2017’s autobiographical A Girl In Teen City had served as a confirmation of her enduring quality but would also start in her a process of self-recognition ultimately leading to the casting-off of he alter ego.
David Keenan and Louis Brennan could both be dubbed Irish exile poets, though beyond a shared confident loquaciousness they follow different roads. The peripatetic Keenan – with recent spells in Paris and Catalonia – is massively productive; songs and poems pour out of him with one live and three studio albums, and a verse collection, since 2020. A remarkable lyricist and urgent singer; his words tumble and speed from rhyme to rhyme; at times there’s reminders of Van Morrison circa St. Dominic’s Preview, and names like Tim Buckley and Patrick Kavanagh are regularly invoked. Despite the existing output it still seems like he’s only just flexing his muscles and recent singles ‘Christmas’ll Ruin Me’ and ‘An Irish Song’ indicate there’ll be no creative let-up.
Louis Brennan is a London-based Dubliner whose Sunday lunchtime set at last year’s Ramblin Roots has become the stuff of legend, grabbing a hungover crowd by the throat and refusing to let go. His first album Dead Capital, recorded in Berlin in 2018 with notable engineer Ingo Krauss (Swans, Einstuerzende Neubauten) was quite stark, intense, and instrumentally spare. The more recent Love Island, made at Rockfield, employs a wider instrumental palette, and addresses contemporary malaise with an admirable cynicism. From a lineage stretching through Brel, Hazlewood, and Gainsbourg, like Keenan his potential is massive.
Austrian Chris Comper, who performs as Prinz Grizzley, makes a welcome return to Zentrum Altenberg. Since his previous 2018 appearance he’s released the Beau Bedford-produced To My Green Mountains Home which saw Erin Rae guesting on ‘Drifting’ and carried a pleasing oomph and variety throughout. Described as a ‘mix of Austrian alpine culture expressed through the sounds of Americana’ he’s drawn comparisons to Chris Stapleton and John Hiatt but on both the album, and certainly his recent take on ‘Proud Mary’, there’s more than a little of Dan Penn about him which is no small thing.
A pair of Norwegians – Louien and Ole Kirkeng – fly the flag for Nordicana. Kirkeng spent five years in America, studied at Berklee College Of Music and played in Courtney Marie Andrews’ band. Returning to Norway his Rocking Chair EP – whose lead song is one of those lovely delicate songs you know on a single hearing is going to be a keeper – promptly won a Spellemannsprisen, the Norwegian equivalent to a Grammy. His Still Not Lost album carries more than a little of a jaunty pop sensibility and veins of humour redolent of Eric Blakely.
Influenced by traditional folk music and Laurel Canyon-style troubadours, and possessed with a stunning, expressive voice, Live Miranda Solberg, who previously fronted Silver Lining, has now released three albums as Louien. With instrumental settings achieved in partnership with producer Øyvind Røsrud Gundersen they’re often lush, emotive, and memorable creations. The most recent – Every Dream I Had – appeared in mid-February and sees the rest of her band, including bassist Kirkeng and drummer Henrik Lødøen, drawn into the creative process.
David Newbould is a Canadian-born resident of Nashville, arriving there via spells in New York City and Austin. A self-described heartland roots-rocker and amplified folk-singer; undoubtedly an underrated though much-respected songwriter whose catalogue includes co-credits with Dan Baird who also played on his 2019 Sin & Redemption album. His most recent Power Up set, produced by Scot Sax of Wanderlust, presents him as a confident all-rounder moving from the raucous and abrasive title track to the more intimate ‘The Lawn’ before delivering ‘Home Depot Glasses’, a heart-felt, near-spoken tribute to John Prine, which definitely demands a much larger audience.
Jenny Don’t & The Spurs are cowpunks hailing from Portland, Oregon. Unsurprisingly there’s a marked rockabilly patina about them, and if the cover of their Lovesick Craw mini-album suggests The Cramps that’s because it shares an illustrator – Stephen Blickenstaff – with Bad Music For Bad People. A four-piece, who’ve been around for over a decade now, comprising Jenny Connors, Kelly Halliburton, Christopher March, and Buddy Weeks. Weeks is the new boy, taking over the drum seat from original Wipers sticksman Sam Henry who sadly died in 2022. As Jenny says; “We enjoy it more when it’s stripped down and not super polished. We like music that’s a little rough around the edges”. Unsurprisingly they’re fans of the 7”, and have released plenty, often now hard to find they’re now compiled on the essential The Singles Roundup.
It’s a line-up that speaks class, and at time of writing advance sales are better than for any previous year, though there’s definitely still tickets to be had. Plenty of festival-goers arrive on the Thursday allowing for a night on the town; Oberhausen is well-served with reasonably priced accommodation; while the Static Ruhr Tour is again a victim of its success, and already sold out, there’s plenty of interesting places an easy train ride away – you wouldn’t go far wrong taking a wander around Düsseldorf, or going to Wuppertal and riding the monorail featured in Alice In The Cities. Equally mosey around Oberhausen; a short tram trip will take you to the Rhine-Herne Canal, the Gasometer, and the Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen, all of which are far more scenic than they might sound.
This year’s festival starts on Friday 12th of July and winds down just as Saturday 13th ends, but folk will gather in the old zinc factory’s courtyard and remain long into Sunday morning. There’s but a single stage so you can witness every second of the live music; Canadian MC Jeff Robson will, as usual, ensure order. Keep an eye on the Static Roots website and the various socials for extras; already a reading from Willy Vlautin – his new novel The Horse appears later this spring – with musical interludes from Freddy Trujillo is scheduled for the Saturday lunchtime. Apart from that’s left to say is “see you at the bar”.
Tickets are available through the Static Roots Festival website. Purchase link here but hurry.
Bucketfull Of Brains 